Friday, March 04, 2011

Aussie homes overvalued

Doesn’t surprise me! Our unfinished, mid-renovated house was over evaluated, simply because of the suburb it’s located in, and because there is an influx in Brisbane. The sad truth is, most young couples simply can’t afford to buy a house anymore. They either end up renting one (along with other flat mates) or they stay with mum and dad longer. Otherwise, both partners have to work like mad, and indenture themselves up to their eyeballs with the mortgage. Gone are the days of “The Great Aussie Dream” of the white picket fence, the two cars out front, and the two and a half kids (your guess is as good as mine about that poor half kid)!

Homes aren’t the only thing that are overpriced in Australia; food is another big issue. It seems to me that “someone” is abusing the system by using the excuse that Australia is an isolated continent and “shipping things over here is costly”. I understand that this is perfectly normal for produces that are actual imports, but how do you explain the fact that cherries from the U.S. are cheaper than home-grown ones? When folks opt to buy the overseas stuff, some patriotic fool starts crying “sell out” and “un-Australian”, all the while pointing the finger at the poor people that are drowning in an overinflated mortgage and simply trying to feed their small families. The system is spiked in favour of the big hotshots. Just my two bobs worth.

2 comments:

We don't have quite the inflation you guys do, but with the economy as it is, everyone is trying to pinch pennies. But I do get some flack why I prefer a Toyota/Honda/Mitsubishi car as opposed to an American-made one. The truth is the American ones don't last as long, and they require MANY more trips to the mechanics. When you're trying to pay bills, no matter what country you're in, price and reliability do matter!

I never buy the ticket when someone's trying to sell me a "guilt trip". D and I always do our best to help our economy, but when work is rare and you're living off of one salary, I have no problems opting for the foreign option if it saves us some coins. You know the old saying; "the ones that scream the loudest are usually those that have the most to loose". Like I said... The big companies.